Mistakes We've Made
by doodleswriter357
Summary: Finn knows what Artie's going through; making one stupid mistake and having to suffer the retributions. Seeing her with him hurts so badly. Exploring the parallels between Artie and Finn.


**I'm in the middle of my Kurt/Artie story, but this idea was bouncing around in my head and wouldn't leave me alone. It's just a little one-shot exploring the parallels between the two relationship triangles on the show. This is my first time writing Finn, so I hope I did okay with him.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything.**

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When Artie approached him in the hallway during their first week back at school, Finn wasn't expecting the request from the other boy at all. He had seen Tina and Mike holding hands in the hallway and was slightly confused by it, but Rachel had called his attention away and he had forgotten about it. Having Artie bring it up though made him remember and it cleared up some of his confusion. He wasn't sure how being on the football team was going to help anything; Tina didn't seem like the type to care if someone was on a sports team or not. Besides, he didn't really want to have to tell Artie he couldn't join because of his disability. However, he humored the boy at first hoping that it would make Artie feel better. Once Artie had explained how he could be an attribute to the team, Finn got fully behind the idea.

Finn mulled over the conversation later that night, and after some deep thinking and reflection on the previous year, he realized that he really wanted to help Artie out. The other boy had explained the situation to him during Chemistry class and it had struck a chord in Finn. All he had to do was change the names and places and he could tell someone exactly how the story went.

Hearing Artie's story was like hearing someone tell him about the second half of his sophomore year. Boy and girl are happily dating. Boy doesn't want to put in the extra effort to be a good boyfriend so they break up. Girl finds someone else who is perfect for her in every way, while the boy is stuck to sit and watch from the sidelines. Boy makes some stupid mistakes along the way and realizes that he really screwed up and missed out on something great. Boy then takes great measures to get the girl back.

Finn remembered the feeling of having screwed something up royally. He liked Rachel; he really and truly did. They were just so different from one another and he didn't really know how to handle the relationship. He didn't have any interest in musicals or Broadway, and wasn't interested in learning about them. Rachel however, came to every single one of his games, would sit and watch sports with him on TV, and even took some time to read up on basketball so she could follow the game. She did everything in the relationship, and he just sat back and did nothing. The only real relationship he had been in before was with Quinn and their interests coincided. Sports and cheerleading went hand in hand at the high school, and they were the cookie-cutter couple. It was practically written out how they were supposed to behave.

Rachel was so much different though. She was unexpected, confusing, and to be honest, a little scary. He hadn't wanted to put time or effort into the relationship at the time; they had kind of rushed into it to begin with. The feelings were there but there wasn't an equal desire to be together. He had pushed her aside, wanting to be able to explore a little bit – and if he was being honest with himself – to try and rebuild his reputation. He felt bad breaking up with her, but he reasoned that if it was meant to be, it would work out and he just wanted a little bit of breathing space.

Santana and Brittany may have been physically appealing, but their personalities left a lot to be desired. Brittany was impossible to hold a normal, understandable conversation with, while Santana seemed to just hate everyone but herself, and let everyone know what she thought of them.

Then he found out about Jesse.

He was this perfect, talented, amazing, older guy that had swept Rachel off her feet by singing to her in the music store. Granted, Rachel fell in love with a lot of guys just because of their singing voices, but this guy was _perfect._ He was everything that Finn wasn't; confident, charming, talented, and cool. Rachel was clearly head over heels and she hadn't given Finn a second glance. He was surprised at the intense relief he felt when she announced that they weren't together anymore.

That relief wouldn't last long though, because he soon found out she was still secretly seeing him. He threatened to break off their friendship, but he knew deep down he never would. He cared too much to lose her again. Then the guy had to come and transfer to their school and even join the club. Now he had to deal with seeing them together every day, all the time. The perfect couple that went to musicals together, practiced for Glee every day after school, and had deep discussions about performances that he had never even heard about. He hadn't done any of that with her, and he wasn't sure he would be able to do some of it even if he had wanted to.

He had hoped – for some brief moment – that there was a chance for them when she approached him about the _Run Joey Run _video, but that was dashed as soon as Puck's face graced the screen. He knew he was being a hypocrite for yelling at her for caring more about her reputation, but he was partially yelling at himself as he realized once again that he had seriously screwed things up with her.

Eventually Jesse's true colors shone through, and Rachel agreed to give him another chance at them being together. He was so happy after she kissed him on the stairs that he danced around his house later, much to the bemusement of his mother. They ended up talking things out after Regionals were over; discussed the problems they had before, and how they would avoid them this time around. Somehow, despite everything, it had worked out. They had worked out.

Now when Finn saw Artie wheeling down the hall, looking lonely and out of place without Tina at the handles behind him, he felt for the other boy, and vowed to help him out no matter what. When Artie got that downcast look on his face after seeing Mike and Tina giggling during Glee, Finn had a flashback to Jesse and Rachel cuddled next to each other every rehearsal. When Artie announced to pretty much the entire football his desperation for getting his girlfriend back, despite their snickering and comments, Finn remembered singing how much he wanted Rachel back in front of the entire club.

He was pretty sure that Mike wasn't going to smash a raw egg over Tina's forehead, and she would just go running back to Artie. The two were going to have to seriously work to get their relationship back on track. When Artie came to Finn and admitted that he had slept with Brittany, Finn felt a flash of shame as he remembered his tromp with Santana in the hotel room. Rachel still didn't know about it, and it would occasionally creep into his consciousness, causing him to worry about what would happen if she did find out. Both Artie and Finn had screwed up seriously, but they both learned a valuable lesson from it. Artie expressed his regret towards rushing into things and Finn silently agreed with him.

Finn wasn't sure what the future held for Artie and Tina, but he knew how Artie was feeling and had pledged to himself to help his friend. He wanted his friend to end up as happy as he was.

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_Comments? Thoughts? Let me know. Feedback is always much appreciated. _


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